Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Ex-Wolverine Updates

Former DT Richard Ash: Ash made 1 tackle in Western Michigan's 26-14 victory over Bowling Green.

Former TE commit Pharaoh Brown: Brown had 3 receptions for a career-high 99 yards in Oregon's 45-20 victory over Washington. He has 18 catches for 314 yards (17.4 yards/catch) and 3 touchdowns on the season.

Former S Josh Furman: Oklahoma State suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of TCU, 42-9. Furman made 5 tackles and 1 tackle for loss in the defeat. He now has 39 tackles, 9 tackles for loss, 5 sacks, 1 interception, 3 pass breakups, and 1 forced fumble.

Former RB commit Demetrius Hart: Hart's Colorado State team beat Utah State by a score of 16-13. Hart ran the ball 12 times for 60 yards (5.0 yards/carry) and 1 touchdown, and he caught 1 pass for 9 yards.

Former linebackers coach Jay Hopson: Hopson, now the head coach at Alcorn State, went to 6-2 with a 40-25 win over Texas Southern. The two losses came against Southern Mississippi in week two and Grambling State on October 11th. Hopson is 19-12 as a head coach in two-plus seasons.

Former RB Thomas Rawls: Rawls nearly continued his streak of 200+ yard rushing games, but alas, he ended this week's contest with 37 carries for 181 yards (4.9 yards/carry) and 1 touchdown. He also caught 1 pass for 6 yards, but Central Michigan lost to Ball State by a score of 32-29. Rawls passed the 1,000-yard barrier for the season and now has 1,007 yards and 10 rushing touchdowns.

He's still not very fast. That hasn't changed. There are lots of successful backs around the country who don't move on to the next level. NFL Draft Scout currently has him as the #25 running back in the draft class. For reference's sake, 22 running backs were taken in the 2014 NFL Draft. If you add in the fact that several underclassmen will probably declare for the draft, then Rawls is probably looking at a UFA situation.

It's the MAC. Plenty of plodding fullback types who are slower and clunkier than Rawls have been productive in the MAC. Rawls is still rather slow, but he's now a superior athlete relative to the others on the field.